I finished up my reporting while at school. The day flew by and the children were better behaved than they had been the previous week. Once school was over, we headed to get some chocolate for Stuart to go with his Father’s Day present. The kids got a chocolate as well, of course. I made Millie dinner when we got to the house. Jack had a snack while I took a skirt, that needed mending, to Lara’s. When I returned home we left for the golf club for Jack’s second lesson. Millie and I had a soda in the restaurant and waited for him to finished.
Of course when we got home Jack had to show me what he had learned with his driver. He nearly broke a mirror. Why did he think it was okay to demonstrate his new found abilities IN the house? Who knows. More importantly, why did I not stop him? Who knows.
He and Millie went up for showers and then Millie had a snack and went to bed on time, for a change. I sat and watched Real Housewives of New Jersey, which is such trash. Jack has a snack and then went to bed. I waited up for Stuart but dozed in and out of sleep. He landed around 11:30 pm, but didn’t actually get home until after 2 am. He unpacked and we talked for a bit and then I think we realized that sleep was important, so we went to bed.
Monday morning’s get up was difficult. The kids were excited to see Daddy and of course they enjoyed the presents he brought. Stuart was off to work just after 6 while I finished off lunches. Once we were at school I discovered I would be covering for a Year 1 teacher for the second lesson. As bummed as I was to not have that hour free, I enjoyed being with those little ones. The rest of my day flew by. At the end of the day I had a meeting with a father whose son is a bahavior problem as well as struggles with academics. The Head of the Junior School was with me and made it very clear that this child could not return to our school next year without having a one to one shadow teacher for the next school year. In this country, those one on one shadow teachers are at the expense of the family. So as you could guess, we wondered what the reaction would be. To our surprise, they were very supportive.
We missed Millie’s gymnastics class. Fortunately, we can go any three nights we chooose, so we decided to skip Monday’s class and make it up further in the week. We went to Lara and Brian’s to see that one of the kittens had opened her eyes. How do I know it was a ‘her’, you may ask? Well, because it’s a calico cat and all calico cats are female, which I never knew until this cat was born.
When we left Lara and Brian’s, I went to the doctor, as I had decided I needed to have the fluid on my knee looked at. The doctor ordered an MRI just to make sure everything was okay. So I will just wait for the approval to come through and go from there. I got home and had some of the casserole I had put in the slow cooker on Sunday evening. Stuart finished unpacking and sorting his stuff from his trip. When I got back from the doctor, Millie went to bed. She was exhausted for sure. Jack followed shortly as did Stuart and myself. We all needed a good night’s rest.
Tuesday morning I was up and raring to go. Jack had swim squad, or so we thought. It turns out that it is no longer held in the mornings for the remainder of the year. Instead, he went after school as I was in my staff briefing. Then the three of us headed to gymnastics. As Millie tumbled, Jack and I went to get water balloons for the upcoming Splash Bash at the club. It’s our last big event of the year. We returned to watch Millie for about 15 minutes. After gymnastics, we went to the club for dinner. Stuart had a meeting there so it only made sense for us to meet him there and eat. I was going to sort out the things I needed for the Splash Bash but they had been moved and no one knew where the things were. The club house assistant manager promised me he would find the things the following day.
Once we were home, both kids showered and Millie went straight to bed. Jack made himself a PBJ as he has gone off the food at the club recently. He then was in bed by 9 pm, which is past his bedtime, but we stayed longer at the club than normal.
I stayed downstairs after Stuart went to bed. When I woke up I had this horrible pain in my esophagus. It was as if there was food stuck in it. It was a bit like acid reflux, from what I remember when I was pregnant with Jack, but it was quite a bit more intense. I hardly slept because every time I swallowed I woke up with the pain. It was horrible. It just got worse throughout Wednesday, to the point that I had tried Gaviscon, chewable antacid meds, and even milk. I told my Deputy Head of Academics as she was interviewing me that morning for the Year 1 team leader. I told her if I suddenly gagged it had nothing to do with her. She just laughed.
The interview went well. I suppose I will find out in a little bit just how well it went. Our Year 1 team has been a bit disheveled all year. Since I was in Year 2 this year, we received their children from the previous year. There seems to be a disconnect between our nursery children, our Year 1s and our Year 2s, but our Year 1s have had the biggest struggle and always will. Year 1 is a huge jump as this is where the curriculum gets more intensive for children. The British curriculum is about a year higher than the states, which is a whole other challenge. Anyway, I think I’m the best person for the job, but I may not be. We shall see.
Our Year 2 children went ice skating on Wednesday for our last school trip. Millie was a natural but I was amazed at how many children needed the supports. It might have been a bit dangerous. Oops!
After school, with esophagus still in pain, we headed home. Millie got her leotard on and Jack got his golf gear on. We were each taking a kid to a sporting event. I dropped Millie at gymnastics and headed to Mcadonalds, thinking ice cream would soothe my issues. Unfortunately, that was not true. In fact, it might have made things worse. I picked Millie up at 5:30. When we got home, she showered and I fixed her pasta with butter. White food! It’s what’s for dinner. Stuart had stopped to get pies for him and Jack. I told him I didn’t want anything. If I didn’t get this throat thing sorted, I wouldn’t be eating anything. It hurt too badly. Once he was home, I headed to urgent care, where I sat with about 20 other people. What a way to spend a Wednesday evening. In the end I was referred to an ENT and seen that evening. She did a endoscopy, which is terribly pleasant, especially for someone whose gag reflex is so sensitive. Every time I gagged, I apologized. In the end she diagnosed me with GERD which is an issue for older people. There you have it. At any rate, she gave me a medication and Gaviscon. She told me if it wasn’t better in two weeks to come back to see her. I expect to lose weight with this issue as I truly couldn’t swallow anything. I got home around 9 pm, showered and slept downstairs in order to be able to prop myself up. That was also a recommendation of the doctor.
I didn’t sleep well at all, but was hopeful the medication would start to work. Work was a bit disappointing as I was informed I didn’t get the Head of Year 1 position. The person who was appointed was someone who has never taught anything lower than Year 3 and doesn’t have nearly the experience I have. However, I am a true believer that what happens is meant to be. The Head of the Junior School set a time to give me feedback regarding my interview. He said he appreciated my honesty throughout the interview, but sometimes I was too honest. I will listen to him and do what I can to improve upon myself, but I’m also under the belief that the way I interview is who I am and if it’s not a fit for someone or they don’t like that part of me, then I’m not the person for the job. After 51 years I’m not going to dramatically change who I am. It’s not possible or reasonable. I was disheartened, but recovered quickly. I had no choice.
Thursday evening we stayed at home and watched a couple of Bond films. We had invited people over but everyone had other plans. I still wasn’t feeling brilliant so that was all to fine by me.
Friday morning we got up and went to the grocery store. We also went to fill our propane tank. Friday was Lara and Brian’s anniversary. We had their family and Sean over for a cookout. It was so hot outside that only Stuart went out were the grill was. He made everything! Bless him. We played cards most of the evening, which was really fun. We played a game called ‘Oh heck’, which was fast paced and a bit brainless. There is a strategy to it, but of course I never figured that part out.
Saturday morning we were up and had breakfast. I took Millie to gymnastics and then headed to the club to sort out the Splash Bash items for Thursday, which thankfully they had found. It just took me a few minutes, so then I headed back to the gymnastics class. We got home and Millie had lunch. I took some more Gaviscon after I ate. My burning esophagus had subsided quite a bit, which I was so thankful for.
At 3 pm, I headed to the doctor for my MRI on my knee. Stuart took Jack to a birthday party at Bounce and Millie has to ride along. Because Bounce is on the other side of town, Stuart decided to stay on that side and take Millie to McDonalds for dinner. Jack would eat at the birthday party and then both kids would be sorted for the evening. After my MRI I headed home to watch some trash television in total seclusion. I’ve discovered I enjoy being alone at times.
When Stuart got home with the kids, they went to take showers. Millie went to bed shortly after her shower. Jack stayed up for another hour and had a snack. Cathy dropped by after Claire’s graduation. Claire will move back tithe U.K. this summer. It’s hard to believe that we now have to break in a new babysitter. Cathy will be an empty nester, but she’s coming to work at Brighton next year so she will have some new single friends to hang out with. Plus, she’s moving to a complex where a lot of Brighton people live. I think she will have plenty of social activity to keep her busy. Stuart and I called it a night once Cathy had gone. Only 10 more days with students. Yahoo! We are almost there.
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